Staff & Partners
Staff
Peter Quinby, Chair & Chief Scientist
Peter Quinby, AFER's founder has been Chair of the Board of Directors and Chief Scientist since 2004. Dr. Quinby has studied landscape ecology and conservation for the past four decades. He received his masters degree from Yale University, his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and he was formerly a Certified Senior Ecologist through the Ecological Society of America. For his doctorate, he studied old-growth forests in Algonquin Park, and he has conducted ecological field studies throughout Ontario, the northeastern U.S., in the Canadian arctic and in Central America. He was a professor at numerous universities including Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Quinby has published many scientific articles and technical reports addressing the topics of old-growth forest and landscape ecology, natural areas management, wildlife corridor design, wildlife habitat assessment, and species-at-risk (see consulting studies). He is co-author of the book, Ontario's Old-growth Forests, now on its 2nd edition. His/AFER work has been cited in at least 60 different refereed journals and many other publications by researchers worldwide and in the popular press.
Select Publications
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Policies and Strategies to Protect Old-growth Forests in Ontario: A Case Study of the Catchacoma Forest Canadian Planning and Policy (2026)
Ecological Decline and Roadless Habitat Restoration after Two Centuries of Multiple-Use Management in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada Biosphere (2026)
Benefits of Restoration (logging removal) in Algonquin Park: Old-growth Forest Ecology and Roadless Areas as Candidate Reserves presentation, ancientforest.org (2025)
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The Catchacoma Forest Stewardship Committee Enhances Management of Ontario's Eastern Hemlock Forests through Participation in Forest Planning presentation, ancientforest.org (2025)
Hemlock Decline, Reserve Selection, and Conservation of Canada's Largest Eastern Hemlock Stand at Trent Lakes, Ontario Natural Areas Journal (2025)
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Minimum Standards (live- and dead-wood) for Verification and Delineation of Old-growth Eastern Hemlock Forests ancientforest.org (2025)
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​Achieving Local Forest Landscape Conservation with Examples from the Kawartha Highlands Region presentation, ancientforest.org (2023)
Conserving the Catchacoma Forest Documentary Film by Mitch Bowmile (2022)
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Decline of Regional Ecological Integrity: Loss, distribution and natural heritage value of roadless areas in Ontario, Canada Environmental Challenges (2022)
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Natural landscapes do so much for us. What are we doing to protect them? Rabble.ca (2022)
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Ontario's Old-growth Forests, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2nd edition (2021)
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Protecting Roadless Areas: Our Best Shot at Protecting Ecological Integrity, Ontario Nature Blog (2021)
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Evaluating Regional Wildlife Corridor Mapping: A Case Study of Breeding Birds in Northern New York State, Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies (2006)
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Scale of Ecological Representation: A Case Study of Old-Growth Forest Conservation in Temagami, Ontario, Canada, Natural Areas Journal (2001)
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First-year impacts of shelterwood logging on understory vegetation in an old-growth pine stand in central Ontario, Canada, Environmental Conservation (2000)
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Opportunities for Wildlife Habitat Connectivity between Algonquin Provincial Park and the Adirondack Park, Wild Earth (2000), AFER Report
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Self-replacement in Old-growth White Pine Forests of Temagami, Ontario, Forest Ecology & Management (1991)
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The contribution of ecological science to the development of landscape ecology: a brief history, Landscape Research (1988)
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An Index to Fire Incidence, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (1987)
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A Review of the Selection and Design of the Forested Nature Reserves in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Natural Areas Journal (1986)
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Recent Field Ecologists and Interns (since 2019)
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Ben Angel, Laura Collings, Basil Conlin, Carling Dewar, Ted Elliott, Adam Folland, Lia Robles Gil, Mike Henry, Ania Marcus, Haley McGregor, Jesse Mihevc, Sara Nguyen, Francis Quinby, Scott Somerville, Nicole Woolley
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Universities Represented by Student Interns and Field Assistants
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Aberdeen University, Bishop's University, Carleton University, Harvard University, Lakehead University, Laurentian University, McGill University, Oberlin College, Oxford University, Queen's University, Sir Sanford Fleming College, SUNY-Plattsburgh, Trent University, University of Guelph, University of Ottawa, University of Pittsburgh, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, University of Vermont, University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, York University
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Partners
